It is being reported that free agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion rejected an offer of 4 years and $80 million from the Toronto Blue Jays prior to their signing of Kendrys Morales. This leads us to the 2 big questions that only Dave Dombrowski knows the answers to: Should the Red Sox step it up and give him the money? and Will they be willing to do it?

Obviously as a fan, I would love for them to sign Encarnacion. Every time I hear his name come up, all I can do is sit here and fantasize about all the balls he'll hit over the 'Selfeo' sign on top of the Green Monster. We have Hanley to play first base, so even though he'll be getting up there in age, it will be easier for him to take care of his body as a full time DH. So what's the problem? To be frank, Pablo Sandoval is the problem.

For whatever reason, Ben Cherington decided to bring in Pablo Sandoval for 5 years and $95 million in the winter of 2014. At first glance I was excited. All I knew about Sandoval was that he seemingly turned into Ted Williams every time the Giants reached the postseason. 3 World Series Championships in 6 years is no joke. Then I looked at his stats and realized that his batting average and OPS were steadily declining, and he had only topped 20 home runs twice to go along with the fact that he'd never driven in 100 runs or really even come close. 3rd base is supposed to be a position for power hitters, and we were not getting one. Dishing out this big deal to Sandoval and not having it work out is, in my opinion, is now holding them back from going all in on Encarnacion. Why is this? Because the only thing worse than one Pablo Sandoval, is two Pablo Sandovals.

Since Encarnacion has a proven track record, and is coming off yet another 30 HR-100 RBI season, I think it's safe to say that he should be signed. Yes, there's the David Price argument. He had a great track record, came here for a mammoth contract, and was mediocre at best. But there's a whole the size of Texas in the middle of the order right now, and if anyone things that the returning Pablo Sandoval or a 39 almost 40 year old Carlos Beltran can fill that hole, they're out of their mind.Come on Dave, put your big boy pants on and give him the money. We have a World Series title to chase.